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Research around Lead Safety Issues is an important CLASH activity. Research has two components: Gathering/Sharing and Engaging
Research around Lead Safety Issues is an important CLASH activity. Research has two components: Gathering/Sharing and Engaging
Gathering and sharing research means staying abreast of new information that supports CLASH's three goals: Awareness, Home Testing and Child Testing. Our weekly e-newsletter Stay in Touch curates stories about other communities' efforts to tackle lead safety. Practice research can be published in CLASH Blogs.
Engaging in research means partnering with academics and communities to identify best practices for lead safety. Some examples of engaged research are listed below. Key points include:
Gathering data from communities of interest involves tangible rewards in exchange for their contributions of time and experience to the research.
Involving the community of interest is reviewing and refining the conclusions of research to which they contributed. (Dr. Monica calls this stage "Rapid prototyping"
Reporting back the outcomes of research in forms that enhance academic understanding (peer reviewed journals) and community awareness of the findings.
Ongoing research at CLASH
Ongoing research at CLASH
(partnership of University of Arizona, Recovering Sonora, and CLASH)
(partnership of University of Arizona, Recovering Sonora, and CLASH)
Title: Strategies for Responsibly Reporting Back Environmental Health and Non-Genomic Research Results
Aim 1: Using an equity-centered community design approach, develop different design types to identify what influences preferred report back strategies. We will extend the “right to know” to “right to design” and introduce democratic values into the report back design process; community members with diverse social backgrounds will be part of the design process and co-create design solutions. Impact. Rapid prototyping and formative evaluation will reveal preferred RBRR designs and dissemination practices, thus ensuring data is understandable and translatable into action.
Aim 2: Within the context of specific populations (cultural identity) and groups (life stage), elucidate key data and environmental health literacy learning outcomes by design type. Given the disproportionate level of exposures and resulting health disparities among ethnic and racial subpopulations, it is imperative that we raise EHL across all populations. To understand how sociodemographic variables impact D/EHL learning outcomes, quantitative and qualitative assessment tools will be applied to evaluate: (1) numeracy and data literacy, (2) awareness and knowledge (3) skills and self-efficacy, and (4) community change. Impact: EHL efforts can create substantial change and if done well, can be transformative.
Aim 3: Identify, evaluate, and mitigate the unintentional consequences of environmental health report back by working with both rural and urban environmental justice communities. A bioethics issue, the field may be hesitant to RPRR because Institutional Review Boards have often focused on potential harms, not the potential benefits for individuals and community. Through formative evaluation and a mixed method approach, partnering communities will highlight perceived and potential consequences and together these efforts will be documented and mitigated. Impact: Practitioners will be able to maximize the benefits to EJ communities by identifying the unintentional consequences in advance and mitigating these outcomes.
Aim 4: Develop capacity building tools for RBRR, train knowledge mediators/brokers and evaluate the efficacy of these tools to support the role of “environmental counselors”. As highlighted by the Lancet Commission, pollution is the world's largest environmental risk factor for disease and premature death. We desperately need individuals who can interpret and translate research results to inform change all levels of the ecological model of health. Our team will co-design tools, host micro-credentialed trainings rooted in RBRR, and evaluate program efficacy. Impact: Build a force of “environmental counselors” to ensure research is translated to action
Nice Profiles: Maria Jose Talayero Schettino, Emily Benfer,and Marya Lieberman
Nice Profiles: Maria Jose Talayero Schettino, Emily Benfer,and Marya Lieberman
January 20, 2026 The Conversation. Some hard-earned lessons from Detroit on how to protect the safety net for community partners in research.
Jul 24, 2024 Environmental Health News. Op-ed: How my family’s culinary traditions opened my eyes to invisible environmental threats. "Lead-tainted clay pots like my grandmother used in Mexico underscore the need for better environmental education among healthcare professionals. Every Mexican Independence Day, Día de Muertos and Christmas, my grandmother would lovingly prepare classic dishes like Pozole and Romeritos using her prized glazed clay pottery. As a child, these meals were the highlight of my year — flavors immersed in tradition, memories carved into each plate. The kitchen alive with the aroma of spices, the laughter of family echoing through the air and the clay pottery, glowing under a soft light, holding the essence of our heritage. It was a scene straight out of a book. But little did I know within those beautiful pots lay a silent intruder into our culinary traditions and bloodstreams, casting a shadow over our most cherished moments. Despite seven years as a practicing physician, I’d remained oblivious to this danger in our kitchens well into adulthood. The revelation came after I left the medical field and became a toxicology student in the U.S., when I realized that Mexicans were unwittingly exposed to lead through this beloved tradition, as the brain-damaging metal lurked in many of these clay pots, leaching into our food and drinks. It was a personal awakening to insidious environmental harms and the health profession’s inadequate training and response to them. Cultural traditions hold deep meaning in our lives, often forming the backbone of our heritage and identity. However, when cherished practices pose hidden health risks, such as lead exposure from traditional glazed clay pottery, the conflict between preserving culture and ensuring safety emerges. Despite well-documented dangers of lead, this practice persists in many Mexican households, partly due to a lack of awareness and insufficient intervention from the medical community. My journey of discovering this danger highlights the urgent need for better environmental health education among healthcare professionals and underscores the importance of finding solutions that safeguard both our traditions and our health. Cultural traditions hold deep meaning in our lives, often forming the backbone of our heritage and identity. However, when cherished practices pose hidden health risks, such as lead exposure from traditional glazed clay pottery, the conflict between preserving culture and ensuring safety emerges." Dr. Maria Jose Talayero Schettino was guest speaker at CLASH Faith and Leaders Luncheon last October and did a Video presentation at this Spring's Council of Social Work conference. Too bad no local media bothered to cover these events
July 22, 2024. Press release. Low-Income Tenants Find a Dedicated Champion at George Washington University "GW Law Professor Emily A. Benfer’s research sheds light on how the U.S. eviction system leads to health inequities. [.....] The clients represented by students in Benfer’s GW Law clinic are all from D.C., but students working with the clinic also engage in policy advocacy at both the local and federal level. Currently, clinic students are working on a federal bill to prevent lead poisoning in the federal Housing Choice Voucher program, a form of tenant-based rental assistance. Their efforts resulted in the introduction of a bi-partisan bill this legislative session." Professor Benfer was a guest speaker at NEOBHC Lead Convening in 2018. A copy of the clinic's analysis of the Lead Safe Housing for Kids Act is attached.
July 22, 2024 Press release. Taking her science to the streets. " 'The crucial first step in all science,' she explains, 'is to refine the question you’re trying to answer. You can have the most advanced analytical techniques, but if you’re not engaged in analyzing something that matters—that makes a difference to people’s lives—then your science won’t make an impact. That’s where the community comes in. When we’re asking questions that have to do with the community’s needs, then we are in a better place to work alongside the community in gathering data and implementing a solution.' The value of Lieberman’s approach became apparent in 2016 when she grew concerned hearing news reports about the number of children in the local community suffering from the effects of lead poisoning. Along with colleagues in public health, data science, and physics, Lieberman helped launch Notre Dame’s Lead Innovation Team, and she used her lab’s expertise to develop low-cost lead screening kits, which were ultimately provided free of charge to the local community. CLASH has tested Dr. Lieberman's home lead test kit in our investigation of DIY home testing.
Research we are watching
Research we are watching
Barriers to Childhood Lead Poisoning
Lead and Food
Non Invasive Child Lead Testing
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